#nots it lasts the whole day instead of just 3 hours

[toadstool32]

WAS ETHO STREAMING TO THE HERMITS HIS DO2 RUNS

#HECKLER RUUUUUN #instead of watching his video all in one like i always do im rationing it :3 #nots it lasts the whole day instead of just 3 hours #<-wanted to make it last all week #anyeay

[swanlake1998]

Article: Julie Felix: the brilliant Black ballerina who was forced to leave Britain

Date: March 3, 2021

By: Steve Rose

(CW: racism, anti black racism, police brutality, violence, murder mention)

She was told there was no room for a ‘brown swan’ in the London Festival Ballet, so she went to the US. There she found enormous success, dancing for everyone from Michael Jackson to Prince

The turning point in Julie Felix’s career came in 1975. A student at Rambert ballet school in London, she was selected to dance in Rudolf Nureyev’s production of Sleeping Beauty with the London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet). Nureyev was the god of British ballet – and he lived up to his reputation on the first day of rehearsal, Felix recalls. “He was late, but everybody said he was always late. All of a sudden, the doors flew open and in he came. He was well renowned for these big boots he used to wear, and a big fur coat. He took the coat off like a matador and threw it so it slid across the dance studio floor. Everybody jumped up and stood to attention. He was there for probably about half an hour.” At the time, 17-year-old Felix was awestruck. In hindsight, half a century later, she is less impressed: “Talk about unprofessional.”

In the fairytale version of Felix’s life, having acquitted herself on stage with Nureyev, she would have joined the London Festival Ballet and become the first Black British dancer to begin her ascent through the ranks of a British ballet company. Instead, she was told she was a “lovely dancer”, but was not going to be given a contract, “because of the colour of my skin. I would mess up the line of the corps de ballet, because you can’t have a whole row of white swans and then there’s a brown one at the end.”

Felix was stunned: “It hit me like a thunderbolt.” Her mother was white British and her father African-Caribbean, from Saint Lucia. She had never thought of the refined world of ballet as being what we might now describe as institutionally racist. “It sounds ridiculous, but because I didn’t experience any racial issues or difficulties before that, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the colour of my skin. I thought that I was talented and that would be enough.”

Having grown up in Ealing, west London, in the 60s, Felix certainly knew about racial difference. She rarely saw any faces that were not white in the neighbourhood or at school, she says. After her parents had met on a bench in Hyde Park, her mother’s family disapproved. “They said: ‘If you marry that man, we’re going to disown you.’ And my mum just said: ‘Well, fair enough, I still want to marry him.’”

Her father, who worked as a foreman at the Hoover factory, was quite the charmer, says Felix. “He was the proudest man. He would paint the front door a different colour every year. He was always up the ladder washing his windows. He would grow fruits and vegetables in the back garden. But I would say my dad had a big chip on his shoulder.”

She describes how he would dress like a dandy, in 40s suits and spats, even if he was just going to do the shopping. “He would always berate the grocers and say: ‘You’re picking the bruised fruit and vegetables because I’m Black. You think I can’t see this?’” She laughs. “Why would you move somewhere if you’re going to spend your life being concerned about the way other people look at you and your colour?”

There was an incident when she was eight or nine, when her father returned from work very late, his shirt ripped and covered in blood. A colleague had attacked him outside the factory gates with a meat cleaver on a chain. “He didn’t like, one, the way my dad spoke to him and, two, because my dad was Black,” she says.

Culturally, the Felix household was “100% British”, she says. She had no connection to her Saint Lucian family, although she would see her British grandparents in Essex regularly (relations had thawed when Felix’s elder sister and she were born). Musically, her father liked American crooners such as Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole; her mother preferred classical music and had once aspired to be an opera singer. “So, when it came to my wanting to dance, there was a local ballet school around the corner in Ealing that I would go to, and Mum said: ‘Well, as long as you keep working hard and you’re enjoying it, I will fund it for you.’ She wasn’t a pushy, stereotypical ballet mother, but she knew that I loved it. And because she’d been stopped doing what she wanted to do, she was there 100% for me.” When she passed the audition for the Rambert, her parents could not afford the fees; Felix won a grant from the Inner London Education Authority, which paid 75%.

Felix says no one is “born to dance”, but, as a student, her passion for ballet was boundless. “I can remember the feeling of waking up in the morning, earlier than I needed to, getting on the underground and going into Notting Hill Gate, where the school was. I was the first one in the door. The cleaner was still there.

“I could not get enough of it. My friend and me would stretch and practise our fouettés in the lunch break. We’d be the last ones out of the building. Get back on the train, go home. My feet would be bleeding. I’d have blisters all over my toes. And I didn’t care. I just knew this was what was required. I soaked my feet in salt water, dabbed surgical spirit on them to get the skin to heal and get them dried out so that I could get up the next morning and get on that train again.”

After all her dedication, being rejected for her colour was devastating. “It didn’t last long, mind you,” she says. “Part of my personality is: sink or swim. And I thought: ‘I am not going to sink here.’ So I just flipped it around and just said: ‘Watch me. I’m going to show you I can do it.’”

She didn’t have to wait too long. The previous summer, the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) had come to perform in London. This was a pioneering Black ballet company founded in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell, the first top-flight Black dancer in US ballet. While they were in town, Felix went along, auditioned for Mitchell and was immediately offered a contract. She declined. When her teacher at Rambert found out, “she absolutely hit the roof”, Felix recalls. “She said: ‘You can’t pick and choose. You’ve been offered a job!’” Fortunately, the DTH returned to London a few months after her Nureyev experience. Felix auditioned and was offered a job a second time. She did not turn it down.

This time, Felix’s skin colour was to her advantage, although working with an all-Black company in the US was a curious reversal: “I’d gone from all of my ballet training, and growing up not really being aware of anything to do with Black people, to going to New York and there’s no white people.” Before relocating to New York, Felix had never had a passport, left the UK or flown in an aeroplane.

“Within two weeks of being there, Arthur Mitchell said to me: ‘We’ve got to knock the British out of you.’ And I took umbrage, because I’m really proud of being British,” Felix says. In retrospect, she knows what he meant: “It was the wishy-washy way I approached my technique and my ballet training. But it wasn’t just about that; it was everything that Arthur Mitchell taught and portrayed and wanted us to portray within our work. He wanted to show that Black people really can do this.”

DTH’s sense of purpose aligned with Felix’s own. She stayed with the company for 10 years, earning her place as a soloist and touring the US and beyond (including a satisfying return to the Royal Opera House). Life in the US put British racism into perspective, says Felix. In her first week in New York, she witnessed a young Black man being shot dead in the street by two white police officers for shoplifting. A touring performance in Mississippi in 1978 had to be cancelled because the Ku Klux Klan staged a protest outside the theatre, in white hoods, burning cross and all. “No words can describe that feeling,” she says.

There were more good times than bad, though. Felix shared the stage with, and danced for, luminaries from Ronald Reagan to her hero, Luciano Pavarotti. She danced with Lionel Richie to All Night Long at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics closing ceremony; visitors to her shows included Michael Jackson and Prince. Jackson wanted to cast the dancers in his ill-fated Peter Pan movie, she says. He came to a matinee in Pasadena, California, supposedly incognito, but in full Jackson regalia: black sunglasses, Jheri curl and military-style outfit, with a complement of bodyguards. “I was annoyed, because I was there to deliver the performance, but you had all these girls screaming in the audience,” says Felix. “Anyway, after it finished, he came backstage and said to us, very, very quietly: ‘I really enjoyed your performance. I just think you’re fantastic.’ What a humble man.”

A year later, Prince came to a show, by coincidence at the same theatre. He was similarly “incognito”, in a sequined, hooded purple cape. He never took the hood down. “At the end of the performance, he got back in his limo and left and didn’t say thank you, hello, anything. Really quite rude.”

By 1986, aged 30, Felix was beginning to feel the physical toll of ballet life. She also missed home. She returned to the UK and became a teacher and remedial coach for Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, first in London, then in Birmingham, where the company relocated when it became Birmingham Royal Ballet, in 1990. She married and had three daughters (none of whom followed in their mother’s footsteps).

She then became head of dance at a local school. Now it was her turn to “knock the British out” of her students. “They don’t seem to know how to really push themselves,” she says. “Ballet is really painful. If you don’t feel that, then you’re not doing it properly.” Ballet has also always required a highly specific form of physicality, Felix points out. “It needs very arched feet, it requires good natural rotation of your hip sockets, a slender body, long, lithe muscles, long neck, small head.” Regardless of talent or musicality, she says, dancers who do not conform to this body type will struggle. Perhaps it is this inherent discrimination that has made other forms of prejudice easier to disguise.

British ballet has made some progress since the 70s, but it could do more. Birmingham Royal Ballet, for example, had a successful workshop programme with local schools, whose pupils were often from Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds, but such programmes seem to have “fizzled out” as a result of local authority budget cuts, Felix says. On the other hand, there are institutions such as Ballet Black, which advocates for diversity in professional ballet. At the time of its founding in 2001, there were still no women of colour performing in any British company. The Royal Ballet recruited its first Black, British-born male dancer, Solomon Golding, only in 2013.

Felix is not convinced British ballet has turned the corner: “I still believe that we’ve got ballet companies who will take a few people of colour just to be politically correct.” However, she was heartened by the appointment of the Cuban-British dancer Carlos Acosta as director of Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2020, although the pandemic has so far curtailed its activities. While all British arts are vulnerable at the moment, ballet – with its high demands for time, labour, space and personnel – is especially so. Now based in Cornwall, Felix has made do teaching over Zoom for the past year. She is not complaining: “It really is a lovely place to be locked down.”

Felix’s skin colour began as a factor that counted against her, but it became an animating force in her career and led to a wealth of experiences and successes she might otherwise not have had. With that satisfaction, the anger she feels for her 17-year-old self being told her brownness would “mess up the line” has mellowed a little. “Their choice of not accepting me enabled me to find something within myself that I probably would never have known was there,” she says. “And then to open up this whole world for me. So I can say that hatred was turned to gratitude.”

#article #julie felix #ballet #anti black racism #racism #murder mention #police brutality mention #antiblackness tw #violence tw

[newstfionline]

Sunday, August 22, 2021

US keeps ban on nonessential border crossings to slow COVID (AP) The U.S. government on Friday extended a ban on nonessential travel along the borders with Canada and Mexico to slow the spread of COVID-19 despite increasing pressure to lift the restriction. U.S. border communities that are dependent on shoppers from Mexico and Canada and their political representatives have urged the Biden administration to lift the ban. In addition, Canada recently began letting fully vaccinated U.S. citizens enter the country. But the Department of Homeland Security said in a tweet Friday that the restrictions on nonessential travel were still needed to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and the delta variant. It extended the ban until at least Sept. 21. The travel restrictions have been in place since early in the pandemic in March 2020 and repeatedly extended while allowing commercial traffic and essential crossings to continue.

Booming business at dollar stores shows the widening gulf between haves and have-nots during pandemic (Washington Post) Kyle Dishman can’t afford to shop at the local grocery store anymore. Instead he goes to Dollar General, where he can make $40 stretch into a week’s worth of groceries and the occasional can of motor oil for his Chrysler 300. He sticks with pasta, frozen pizza and canned vegetables, fully aware that “any food you can buy for only $1 is not the greatest for you.” But Dishman says prices have gone up so much that he’s started rationing his food. A growing number of Americans are relying on dollar stores for everyday needs, especially groceries, as the coronavirus pandemic drags into its 18th month. Chains such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree are reporting blockbuster sales and profits, and proliferating so quickly that some U.S. cities want to limit their growth. Foot traffic at Dollar General is up 32 percent from pre-pandemic levels, far outpacing the 3 percent increase at Walmart. Analysts say the explosive rise of dollar stores is yet another example of how the pandemic has reshaped the economy and widened the gulf between the wealthiest and poorest Americans. “It’s a striking disparity: In this country, there is now dollar-store land and there is Whole Foods land,” said Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), a nonprofit advocacy group. “And if you live in Whole Foods land, it’s very hard for people to understand just how desperate circumstances are for the rest of the country.”

More Americans now say government should take steps to restrict false information online than in 2018 (Pew Research Center) Amid rising concerns over misinformation, Americans are now a bit more open to the idea of the U.S. government taking steps to restrict false information online. Roughly half of U.S. adults (48%) say the government should take steps to restrict such misinformation, even if it means losing some freedom to access and publish content. That is up from 39% three years ago, with Democrats driving much of the increase. Meanwhile, a majority of the public continues to favor technology companies taking steps to restrict online misinformation.

Hurricane Grace hits Mexico's Gulf coast, weakens; 8 killed (AP) Hurricane Grace hit Mexico’s Gulf shore as a major Category 3 storm before weakening on Saturday, drenching coastal and inland areas in its second landfall in the country in two days. At least eight people died, authorities said. The storm had lost power while crossing over the Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday, swirling through Mexico’s main tourist strip, but it rapidly drew in power from the relatively warm Gulf of Mexico before reaching the Mexican coast again late Friday. At least eight people, including children, died and three were missing after mudslides and flooding, said Cuitláhuac García, governor of Mexico’s Veracruz state. García said 330,000 people lost power in the storm but it was gradually being restored.

Haitian quake victims rush aid sites, take food and supplies (AP) Haitians left hungry and homeless by a devastating earthquake swarmed relief trucks and in some cases stole desperately needed goods Friday as leaders of the poor Caribbean nation struggled to coordinate aid and avoid a repeat of their chaotic response to a similar tragedy 11 years ago. The attacks on relief shipments illustrate the rising frustration of those left homeless after the Aug. 14 magnitude 7.2 earthquake, which killed nearly 2,200 people, injured more than 12,000 and destroyed or damaged more than 100,000 homes. The frustration over the pace of aid has been rising for days and has been illustrated by the growing number of people crowding together at aid distribution sites. But Friday was the first time there was such widespread stealing.

UNICEF warns millions of Lebanese face water shortages (Reuters) More than 4 million people in Lebanon could face a critical shortage of water or be cut off completely in the coming days, UNICEF warned, due to a severe fuel crisis. Lebanon, with a population of 6 million, is at a low point in a two-year financial meltdown, with a lack of fuel oil and gasoline meaning extensive blackouts and long lines at the few gas stations still operating. “Vital facilities such as hospitals and health centres have been without access to safe water due to electricity shortages, putting lives at risk,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement. “If four million people are forced to resort to unsafe and costly sources of water, public health and hygiene will be compromised, and Lebanon could see an increase in waterborne diseases, in addition to the surge in COVID-19 cases,” she said, urging the formation of a new government to tackle the crisis.

Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: US accuses Abiy's government of blocking aid (BBC) The US international development agency has blamed the Ethiopian government for a shortage of humanitarian aid in the country's conflict-torn Tigray region. USAID accused the government of "obstructing" access to Tigray, as it warned that food aid was set to run out this week for the first time. Hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of famine amid the conflict between government and rebel forces. USAID called on the Ethiopian government to "immediately allow humanitarian assistance". It noted that aid trucks have been unable to leave the town of Semera in the neighbouring Afar region—currently the only accessible land route into Tigray. About 100 trucks of aid are needed in Tigray each day, yet just 320 have managed to reach the region since the end of June, a UN spokesman told the BBC. "At least two important aid organizations have already run out of food," said Saviano Abreu from the UN humanitarian agency, Ocha. "Without urgent and unimpeded food assistance, there will be an imminent threat to the lives of over 400,000 people in Tigray already in famine-like conditions and over 1.8 million people now in emergency levels of hunger could slide into starvation," he said.

In Kabul, a fearful wait for US to deliver on evacuation vow (AP) Tens of thousands of people in Afghanistan waited nervously on Saturday to see whether the United States would deliver on President Joe Biden’s new pledge to evacuate all Americans and all Afghans who aided the war effort. Biden faces growing criticism as videos depict pandemonium and occasional violence outside the airport, and as vulnerable Afghans who fear the Taliban’s retaliation send desperate pleas not to be left behind. The Gulf nation of Bahrain on Saturday announced it was allowing flights to use its transit facilities for the evacuation, an option that should ease pressure after the U.S. faced issues Friday with its facilities at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar rapidly filling up. The backlog forced flights from the Kabul international airport to stop for several hours. The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, said it would host up to 5,000 Afghans “prior to their departure to other countries.” So far, 13 countries have agreed to host at-risk Afghans at least temporarily, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Another 12 have agreed to serve as transit points for evacuees, including Americans and others. But the growing question for many other Afghans is, where will they finally call home? Already, European leaders who fear a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis are signaling that fleeing Afghans who didn’t help Western forces during the war should stay in neighboring countries instead. The desperate scenes of people clinging to aircraft taking off from Kabul’s airport have only deepened Europe’s anxiety.

Taliban took Afghanistan but face cash squeeze (AP) The Taliban face a frontal challenge in cementing control of Afghanistan: Money. Despite their dominant military blitz over the past week, the Taliban lack access to billions of dollars from their central bank and the International Monetary Fund that would keep the country running during a turbulent shakeup. Those funds are largely controlled by the U.S. and international institutions, a possible leverage point as tense evacuations proceed from the airport in the capital of Kabul. Tens of thousands of people remain to be evacuated ahead of the United States’ Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw its troops from the country. But the Taliban also do not currently have institutional structures to receive the money—a sign of the challenges it might confront as it tries to govern an economy that has urbanized and tripled in size since they were last in power two decades ago. The shortfall could lead to an economic crisis that would only fuel a deeper humanitarian one for the roughly 36 million Afghans expected to stay in the country.

The Taliban is flaunting captured U.S. weapons that may be worth billions. Can it use them? (Washington Post) As the Taliban swept into power across Afghanistan, it captured many millions, perhaps billions, of dollars worth of U.S. military equipment that had once belonged to Afghan forces. Footage from areas captured by the militant group shows bedraggled but celebratory fighters in control of U.S.-made guns, armored vehicles and even Blackhawk helicopters and drones. Beyond the flashy hardware, experts are also concerned that the extremist group would now be in charge of sophisticated technology, including biometric devices used by the U.S. military to identify Afghans who assisted Americans and allies. It’s an impressive haul for a group that was once dismissed as a band of rural Luddites when it emerged in the 1990s. But despite its austere interpretations of Islam and rejection of much of modern society, the Taliban has shown flexibility when it comes to technology. It is already active on the Internet and social media. And its fighters are no strangers to U.S. military equipment. “The Taliban have already been using sophisticated military equipment that they have captured from Afghan national security forces in recent years,” said Robert Crews, an expert on Afghanistan at Stanford University. “They have used everything from night vision goggles and scopes to sniper rifles and armored vehicles and artillery.”

Battered Airlines Owed Billions as Governments Withhold Cash (Bloomberg) Airlines are owed almost $1 billion across 20 countries as governments seek to hang on to hard currency, depriving the industry of vital cash at a time when travel has been devastated by the coronavirus crisis. Figures published by the International Air Transport Association show that Venezuela is withholding a further $4 billion that’s been outstanding for years and may be permanently lost to carriers. Lebanon, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Zimbabwe are the worst offenders among other states, accounting for 60% of the $963 million deficit, according to IATA.

#headlines #news

[monstersandmaw]

Whoop! It's week three of Mermay somehow!! And it's time for a female monster. It's been ages since I've written a female non-human (or a male reader), so I'm anxious to see if you enjoy this one too - it's a long one at nearly 8k! Although the reader is male, and there is an nsfw scene, the rest of the story is relatively gender neutral.

Contents: male reader on a long road trip in his van, and makes a stop in Evergreen Glade, a town about 150 miles from Starfall Springs. He meets a really big centaur, a very beautiful woman, and goes for drinks with her... After finding out something about her that he wasn't expecting, he decides to leave the next day and head on to Starfall Springs, only to realise his mistake... Fluff, story, angst, and nsfw. Words: 7982

Next up will be a male orca mer, and if anyone remembers him, it's Viggo from sharkman Tai's story (Tumblr link). Hope you're keen for that too (it'll be for all tiers).

Preview:

You reached for your thermos mug, only to remember that it was empty - and had been for the last fifty miles - and you growled.

Van life was… not quite as romantic as the Instagrammers and YouTubers made it out to be, that was for sure. It was cold, at times a little bit sketchy, dirty, and really fucking exhausting. Sure, you’d had some of the best experiences of your life since setting out on this somewhat insane road trip, but you’d also hit some pretty low times too.

Last night you’d slept perhaps three hours in total, and the caffeine had long since worn off. Blinking to refresh your prickling eyes, you sighed. A road sign up ahead announced that you were three miles from a place called ‘Evergreen Glade’, and on a whim, you decided to stop there. You’d planned to try and push on to Starfall Springs, knowing that there was a campsite you could park at with the van, but both you and the van were running on fumes, and you needed to stop.

The road took you through a dense pine forest, emerging at the top of an incline onto the main street of what was obviously a former logging town. There was even a petrol station at that end, so you and the van chugged in and drew up.

With the van refuelled, it was time to see to yourself.

The buildings scrolled past like a beautiful old film set as you drove along the main street, with inviting, hand-painted signs for gallery-cafes and antique shops, quaint little jewellers and shops selling hiking equipment. How every road-tripper passing through this part of the country hadn’t Instagrammed the shit out of this place was a mystery to you, but you parked up your modest old van and hopped out, stretching the pent-up stiffness from your neck and spine.

A gnoll was selling ice creams from a little push-cart on the corner, wearing a cute little pink apron with the company’s logo on, and as a faun and her little girl drew up to order one, you watched them exchange warm, easy-going laughs; clearly this was a community that got along well. A tight anxiety that had been brewing in your chest eased a little. You’d seen enough creepy towns on your trip to know you didn’t want to linger long in another if you didn’t have to.

Pausing beside an inviting gallery and cafe, with bright, white-and-pastel interiors and a variety of art on the walls from traditional to ‘more-wacky-than-you-were-qualified-for’, you let your eyes skim down the menu outside and were surprised to find the prices extremely reasonable. Most artsy places like that charged an arm and a leg for a luke-warm cup of mildly caffeinated froth, but if the giant slab of cake on one patron’s plate was anything to go by, this place seemed more than worth it, and you pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Freshly ground coffee and the enticing scent of sugary pastries and cakes filled the air and instantly your mouth began to water as you joined the back of a short queue to order.

To your surprise, the person standing behind the counter and making drinks was a colossal centaur. If this was indeed an old logging town, he looked like he should be the one hauling the timber down the mountain, but instead, he was artfully making cappuccino froth into a panda for a customer. The juxtaposition was so jarring it almost gave you whiplash.

He had the lower body of a Shire horse, with a glossy black coat and fluffy white feathers which were just visible behind the counter as he moved about, setting the steel pot of frothed milk down and reaching for a plate on which to set a brownie the size of a house brick. He was even clad in a flipping red tartan ‘lumberjack’ shirt, with his long black hair tied back into a scruffy bun at the nape of his thick neck. His arms were massive too, and obviously and enviably muscled, and around his anvil of a jaw was a close-cropped, dark beard, flecked attractively with white. He nudged the brownie and cappuccino towards an elf waiting at the front, who turned gracefully and headed for a table.

Warm, honey-brown eyes flickered briefly over in your direction as you entered, and you flashed him a quick smile. He jutted his chin upwards by way of a gruff greeting, and then turned back to his work for the woman in front of you who was currently leaning against the rustic, dark-topped wooden bar.

When you saw her, you wondered how on earth you could possibly have missed her, but you’d been so distracted by the unexpected sight of a huge centaur in a dainty, pastel-themed coffee shop that perhaps it was understandable. As she turned to see who the centaur had been looking at, you found your breath catching and your mind stalling. She had to be Fae. White hair fell around her porcelain face in soft waves, coming halfway down her back, and her eyes were large and definitely inhuman somehow, the colour of forget-me-nots and shining with a too-bright glimmer.

Her clothes looked handmade too, perfectly tailored to her body which wasn’t quite as waifish and willowy as you’d first thought. Wearing a loose, white, sleeveless tunic, belted at the waist and ending halfway up her thighs, and ash-grey leggings that disappeared into soft, leather boots, she had toned, strong arms and her shoulders were dappled with beautiful, barely-there freckles.

The centaur caught you staring and scowled a little from behind her, but the young woman only smiled at you.

Her rosebud mouth curled into an extraordinarily pretty smile that left your heart racing, her cheeks dimpling, and then she turned back to take her drink from the centaur and spoke. In a delicately accented voice, she thanked him and wished him and his family well. “I’ll be by tomorrow with those paintings you wanted for the display in the corner,” she added.

The centaur - apparently called Finn - nodded, looking almost as thunderstruck as you felt, but he recovered more quickly.

The Fae woman met your gaze once more and smiled again, nodding. “Hi,” she said as she passed you, and as she left the cafe, it felt like she took all the air out with her.

Read the whole thing right now, along with all the other Mermay stories this month, over on my Patreon!

#kelpie #female monster #male reader #patreon #mermay #mermay 2020

[bffsoobin]

extra long tag game (a guide to all unnecessary knowledge of me)

tagged by: @txtdiaries (ily lana)

tagging: @pxppinstars @txtdream @lavenderlattaes @soobindipity (feel free to ignore if you’ve already done this or just can’t be bothered)

ONE

tell me the first song that made you stan your current fave group and why did your faves attract you so much?

Um okay so I’ll go with explaining BTS and TXT I guess, haha. For BTS it was DNA! That was the first mv I ever saw by them and I was instantly obsessed with everything about it. For TXT, it was obviously Crown since I was keeping an eye on them as soon as BH announced a new group haha. But I initially loved the super bright and happy concept from Crown and they totally got me hooked by their personalities and other music!!

—

TWO

rule: answer the ten questions and write your own!

what’s your unrealistic goal for life?

married by 23, kids by 25...I’m 19 and I’ve never even had a boyfriend so I would be shocked if I actually got this lmao

if you had known that we would be in a global pandemic, what’s one thing that you would’ve done before things shut down (if they have for you)?

Honestly, I can’t think of anything other than spending more time with my roommate who I miss so so much. 

what’s an unconventional thing that you carry around with you when you go out?

I wouldn’t usually call this unconventional but right now I’d say my student ID since it’s useless as I’m not going back to campus

favourite type of plushies and why?

I love teddy bears. I have two that I sleep with every night! One is a gift I got for preschool graduation (eloquently named Teddy) and the other is my iron man build a bear that my uncle bought me to cope with Endgame. 

favourite song right now?

I am notoriously bad at answering this question so I’ll just say that at the moment I’ve been listening to Red Desert by 5sos a lot.

something that you’ve always wanted to learn?

I’ve always wanted to learn how to play drums and any language other than English haha

tell a funny story about yourself (or just something that you’ve witnessed)

This took way more digging in my mind than I would like to admit but when I saw 5sos live in 2016 my best friend and I had soundcheck, so we got to sit in the venue early and ask them questions and hear a few extra songs. At the time I had beef with Luke Hemmings (because the girl he was dating at the time was one of the most toxic people on earth) and he wouldn’t break up with her. So the girl sitting next to me at soundcheck raised her hand to ask Luke a question so of course he was looking basically right at me. We were like maybe 8 rows back from the stage and at this point in my life I had bright pink hair, so there was no missing me. So this girl is asking her innocent question, and naturally Luke looks around a bit and we make eye contact and instead of fangirling like a normal person, my anger at him boiled over and I ended up flipping him off. The whole band noticed and had to pretend they weren’t laughing at the oddly aggressive 9th grader who flipped off their lead singer. I still feel bad about it to this day lmao but all my friends think it’s hilarious and it’s definitely my go to party story.

headphones or speakers? why?

headphones all the way. Speakers only if I’m showering.

craving any food right now? what are you craving?

Surprisingly I’m not craving anything but that’s because I just ate dinner 10 minutes ago

which music streaming platform do you prefer? why?

Spotify all the way

ten questions (by lana, answered)

1. what is your favorite movie of all time?

This is such a hard question for me. I’m so bad at picking favorites. But I’d have to say it’s sort of a tie between Heathers, Brave and Iron Man 2

2. describe your childhood in three words

Disney, animals, comforting

3. Favorite holiday?

Halloween forever and always

4. Favorite vacation spot?

Disney World! 5.What do you think of the education system? Are you a fellow slave to the GPA?

The US education system has massive holes. I was lucky enough to attend a pretty good highschool and take good classes so I don’t feel like I was as robbed as other people, but there are curriculum gaps and misinformation everywhere you go. As far as college goes, I think it is wayyyy too expensive. Despite that, I still signed myself up for 8 years of debt so yes, I am a slave to the GPA. Gotta go hard for the dream job. 

6. What is your hair color? Very light blonde now, normally dirty blonde

7. What talent do you wish you had?

I wish I could draw or paint well so bad. I am so envious of artists.

8. What is your major and why? (If you’re in highschool, what do you plan on majoring in?)

I’m a biology major because I want to become a veterinarian! 

9.Do you like kids or do you merely tolerate them? I love most kids. There will always be some awful ones but as a general rule I love being around kids and I definitely want some of my own!

10. Any pets?

Yep, I have five cats!

ten questions from me to you:

who is your favorite non kpop artist?

do you prefer to be warm or cool?

dream job, if you have one?

favorite TV show?

top three celebrities you would sell your soul to meet?

do you believe in ghosts?

cookies or brownies?

do you like where you live?

do you know your personality type? If so, what is it?

do you prefer floral scents or neutral scents?

—

THREE

rule: bold the statements that apply to you, italicize your aspirations, then tag nine people.

AIR ༉⋆͙̈

i have small hands / i love the night sky / i watch animals and birds when i pass them by / i drink herbal tea / i wake to see the dawn / the smell of dust is comforting / i’m valued for being wise / i prefer books to music / i meditate / i find joy in learning new truths from the world around me

FIRE ༉⋆͙̈

i don’t have straight hair / i like to wear ripped jeans and overalls / i play an organized sport / i love dogs / i am not afraid of adventure / i love to talk to strangers / i always try new foods / i enjoy road trips / summer is my favorite season / my radio is always playing

WATER ༉⋆͙̈

i wear bracelets on my wrists / i love the bustle of the city / i have more than one set of piercings / i read poetry / i love the sound of a thunderstorm / i want to travel the world / i sleep past midday most days / i love simply lit dinners and fluorescent signs / i rewatch kids shows out of nostalgia / i see emotions in colors not words

EARTH ༉⋆͙̈

i wear glasses or contacts / i enjoy doing the laundry / i am a vegetarian or vegan / i have an excellent sense of time / my humor is very cheerful / i am a valued advisor to my friends / i believe in true love / i love this chill of mountain air / i’m always listening to music / i am highly trusted by the people in my life

AETHER ༉⋆͙̈

i go without makeup in my daily life / i make my own artwork / i keep on track of my tasks and time / i always know true north / i see beauty in everything / i can always smell flowers / i smile at everyone i pass by / i always fear history repeating itself / i have recovered from a mental disorder / i can love unconditionally

—

FOUR

PERSONAL

name: sara

nickname: sadams

birthday: April 16th, 2001

zodiac: Aries hehe

nationality: sadly, american

languages: only english 

gender: female

sexuality: straight

height: 5'2 or 3 I don’t know for sure

BLOG STUFF

inspiration for muse: obviously txt but I pull inspiration from my life, music, TV/movies and other stories!

meaning behind my url: I heavily believe in the idea of alternate universes and I think there’s one where Soobin and I are best friends so that’s what I made my url!

blog established: May of 2020

followers: 568 (how??)

FAVORITES

favourite animals: cats, snakes, raccoons

favourite books: Looking For Alaska by John Green

favourite colour: black, light purple, forest green, deep blue

favourite fictional characters: Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds), Andy Dwyer (Parks and Rec), Leslie Knope (Parks and Rec), Klaus and Ben (Umbrella Academy), Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes. For some reason I’m blanking on book characters so here are all of my movie/tv faves

favourite flower: Forget me nots

favourite scent: fresh laundry, anything tropical or ocean smelling, basil

favourite season: fall!

RANDOM

average hours of sleep: 7 or 8 usually 

cats or dogs: cats

coffee, tea or hot chocolate: hot chocolate 

current time: 6:41 pm

dream trip: Australia or SK

dream job: Veterinarian 

hobbies: writing, watching tv/movies, shopping, going for walks

hogwarts house: slytherin

last movie watched: 68 Kill (do not watch if you’re under 18 or sensitive, lmao)

last song listened to: Sarah Smiles by Panic! at the Disco

no. of blankets you sleep with: right now two

random fact(s): I love dinosaurs, I have low iron, I’m allergic to dogs even though I work at a doggy daycare

—

FIVE

10 things I can’t stop listening to 

stay gold- bts

20 cm- txt

catch fire- 5sos

self- khalid

f2020- avenue beat

nyla- blackbear

everywhere- niall horan

heather- conan gray 

red desert- 5sos

eight- iu, suga

#about me #tagged

[leave-me-2-rot-among-the-flowers]

My Universe

A Disease

Pairing/characters- reader x Galaxy-and-star-collector

Word Count- 1235

Warnings- blood, hanahaki disease, self doubt, body horror

A/N- All mistakes are my own. I do not own any of the photos. This drabble is for Mel’s 3k celebration my prompt was “Give it back!” @fictionalabyss

You stared down into the sink looking at the mess in front of you. You tentatively lowered your hand picking up one of the red stained petals. Wiping away the blood as best you could you were amazed at the blue and purple petal. You racked your brain trying to remember what this flower was and it hit you, forget me nots. You chuckled sadly staring down pitifully at the rest of them. “Of course…I don’t want them to forget me and I want to make more memories with them…yet I can’t ever tell them.” You had loved them with all your heart for the past few weeks. You imagined you loved them longer than that but you only now let yourself truly accept your feelings for them. Your own self doubt and self hatred clouded your mind though, and stopped you from believing they could love you too. You quickly gathered all the petals save for one into the bathrooms trash and tied the bag up. You grabbed the one petal that you left behind and put it in your pocket before grabbing the bag and leaving to go toss it.

“Oh hey there (y/n).” They said as they placed their keys on the hook by the door.

‘Shit.’ You silently cursed at yourself, you hadn’t looked at the time and of course it was time for them to get home. You had hoped you’d have enough time to dispose of the bag before they got back but lady luck was not on your side. “Hey Z… I didn’t know it was 4 already I guess time flies when your having fun.” You gave them a closed smile not sure if there was any evidence left behind in your mouth and tried to walk past them to rid yourself of the bag. They held a hand out in front of you stopping you before placing a hand on their hip. “Excuse me am I forgetting the day of the week here or something?” They glanced down at the bag in your hand and then back up at you with a raised eyebrow.

“N-no? It’s Thursday…oh yeah your turn for trash this week right?” ‘Shit shit shit shit…’ Lady luck really enjoyed fucking with you didnt she you thought miserably. “I just thought I would be nice I spilled water in the bathroom and had to clean it up so I figured I would be nice and get rid of it for you.” You closed your eyes and gave another closed smile hoping they would take it as you just being nice and not hiding something.

“While I do appreciate it…” they grabbed the bag out of your hand and smirked running out the door while yelling back at you, “it’s my turn for trash doll face.”

You stared at the empty space in your hand in horror for a moment before rushing out the door after them. “Give it back!” You scream at them in a panic, your emotions running into overdrive. You catch them at the dumpster before another coughing fit overtakes you. You grasp your waist and cough, it burns to take breaths liquid and petals bursting from your mouth after each cough. ‘No..no no no,’ you scream at yourself in silence as tears stream down your face and you fall to your knees as your coughing gets worse whole bushels of the flowers coming out at this point. You felt them stare at you for a minute before hearing the plastic bag hit the ground and their feet running towards you. You black out with the last thing you hear being them shouting your name.

You wake up your body stiff your lungs on fire in a hospital bed. You groan softly at the sudden blossom of pain that ignites in your stomach. “Oh gods…” you hear followed by a sob. You turn your head softly and see them sitting their their face in their hands as violent sobs shake their body. You can’t help but start to cry too your body was tired, your mind exhausted it had all come about too soon.

“How long?” You heard them ask softly without looking up at you.

“…today was my worst episode but for a week now I’ve been coughing up petals.” You say softly bringing your gaze to the ground. You wouldnt be able to handle seeing their disappointment or their anger so you stared at the off white tiles instead.

“I’ll kill them for doing this to you…how could they not love you back? You’re so fucking amazing.” You hear them growl out. You glance back up at them in confusion.

“Who are you talking about?” Your brows knit together in confusion, did they not know it was them you loved?

“Whoever made you feel unloved.” They ground out anger and fury in their eyes, but you noticed something else there too, something you couldn’t place your finger on. You couldn’t bring yourself to say it was them that had started the blossom of flowers in your lungs and so you stayed silent.

Later that day you were discharged from the hospital, they said you had a week at best if the person didn’t return your feelings. Z had demanded and begged you to tell them who it was or to get the surgery to save your life as to them you were more important. Yet you didn’t want the surgery, you just couldn’t stop loving Z even if you wanted to. Things were tense in the house that night and to avoid another shouting match you retired to your room early and fell asleep.

You woke up to the sound of the front door opening and closing. You glanced to the clock on your desk and noted that it read 3 am. 'Strange,’ you thought, 'no one should be coming in or leaving at this hour.’ You slowly got out of bed ignoring the burst of pain in your lungs and left to go check on Z. You didn’t find them in their bed so you opened the door hesitantly to see Z round the corner towards the garbage bins. You started after them and noticed a bright pink petal on the ground that stood out against the gray concrete sidewalk. “An apple blossom?” You mused to yourself out loud. You glance around you, in the 6 months both of you had been living here together you never noticed any apple trees and that’s when it hit you. You ran after Z only to catch them throwing the bag into the trash and turning to see you a mortified expression on their face.

You ran into their arms and pulled them into a deep embrace crashing your lips into theirs. They hesitated but slowly kissed you back, and you both felt a shock run through your body. It was as if you could run a marathon your lungs no longer ached your heart swelled with love. You were finally home right where you belonged.

You pulled back slightly and saw the tears in their eyes as they grinned at you. “How long?” You asked them softly.

“Today was my worst episode…but for about a week” they grinned at you repeating the same words you had said to them in the hospital. Forget me nots and apple blossoms, flowers that would bring your two universes together until the end.

#mels3k #readerxme #readerx #reader insert #hanahaki #flower disease #tw self doubt #tw self image #tw self hate #self doubt #self image #self hate #trigger warning #tw #body horror #tw body horror

[iamjjmmma]

i spent an hour typing up the full storyline to my steven universe fanfic i’ll never make and here goes.

Consider this a chapter from a history book I guess.

This was inspired by a lot of things, but mainly inspired by me researching Ocean City, MD (which is eerily close to Beach City and eerily close to where Sugar grew up) since I went there a few years ago and spent my childhood summers. But here we go.

Steven is now eighteen and ready to marry Connie and move out of his parents’ place, although he swears never to forget his Gem heritage. Just then, Spinel comes back down using the lightpad the Diamonds have. 

NOTE: 1 SECOND IN THE DIAMOND WORLD=1 DAY IN THE HUMAN WORLD, meaning Spinel would have only been gone for about 13 minutes.

She claims she wanted to go back to say one last goodbye. She notices how much time would pass in the human world without the Diamonds even giving her a second thought and decides to stay for 6 months, realizing she needs to repair her relationships with the other characters. During that time, she becomes closer with all the characters, but most of all with Pearl, who has  now developed a protective instinct over her and considers her just as much of her “child” as Steven is. So she’s accepted as a temporary member of the Universe family as Steven’s “sister” and as Greg’s “daughter” that he’s always wanted. 

Meanwhile, in one of the more overlooked suburbian neighborhoods in Beach City, the injector left a trail of its poison on one of the cul-de-sacs...right in the only area where it’s legal for carriers to deliver newspapers. This has caused a man named George Handley, who lives in that street, to not have any current issues of his newspaper. In fact, the last issue of the paper was when Spinel was on Earth and how it basically portrayed her as pure evil. Since George is quite the gem extremist/human supremacist, thinking they’re out to destroy humanity. And he also has a pistil, well… yeah.

Slowly, tensions grow in between the Gems and the humans, culminating one day with Steven getting into a scuffle in one of the town alleyways and coming home very much hurt. 

One day, Pearl and Spinel go to the children’s theatre one day to watch one of their plays, with Greg and Steven being gone for a music gig. Unbeknownst to them, George is also coming to see his 9-year-old daughter Delaney and her 11-year-old boyfriend Ken. Once George sees the duo, he pulls you-know-what out of his pocket and fires away. Pearl shields Spinel, but not...quite. 

In fact, the poison did more than just destroy organic matter. It cancels it out, yes, but it also replaces it with crystalline matter, aimed to both destroy humans and turn them into half or full Gems. It does the opposite with the Gems, causing them to possess more and more human traits, some of which include dying in human ways and retaining a bodily form after their Gems shatter.

It takes a few seconds for Pearl to even realize Spinel is hurt, and even when she does, with the help of a completely unhelpful human crowd, she doesn’t know anything she can do but calm Spinel down until her gem shatters. *cue sad harmonica music prisoners in movies play*

George is completely devastated and remorseful, having heard Spinel’s crying, which sounds like a child. He tells Pearl about how he’s a father himself, and Pearl says how that “makes him even more sick” before she punches him in the face and knocks him out. Pearl tells everyone what happened. They bury Spinel near Rose’s Fountain. Afterwards, they spend time with the Handley family and with Ken, meeting George’s wife Margaret (iT mEaNs PeArL sEe WhAt I dId ThEre).

One day, the Diamonds start to frantically call Earth every second, which translates into once every 2 or 3 days. Each time, they offer a different explanation, but time’s running out. Eventually, they bring George, who fabricates what happened and makes himself look like the hero. Despite everyone else trying to tell the Diamonds this, they say they’d much rather believe the words of a “humble father” instead of any of the rest of them. (poor greg)

The Gems determine the humans are getting dangerous and that they need to address this. Steven is the representative, but once a mob of humans attack, the Gems attack back. The United States interprets this as a declaration of war.

…

It’s now been 5 years since the war started. It’s been very organized- mostly made up of volunteers, with battles going on in uninhabited places. High tensions still exist between the Gems and the humans, but it dies down to a topic that people talk about when they’re bored. No, nobody important died, although Steven’s grown to be a handsome 23-year-old and looking suspiciously like Steg. We now go back to Rosanna, who is now 14, and Ken, who is now 16. During science class one day, Rosanna discovers traces of the poison (nicknamed “gobbledy goopy goo”) in the schoolyard, and looking under a microscope using a cheek swab, they discover it’s replacing the cells with a mixture of microscopic crystals and alien-looking fluid. A kid volunteers to POUR the rest of the poison on his arm, and it mutates into a Gem-ish arm. 

Ken realizes that they’ve discovered a major advantage in the war, and so they spend the next few months teaming up with the Steven Universe gang and trying to find a way to keep the Gems going as a failsafe in case the Gems don’t make it to the planets they want to migrate to. So they purposefully inject themselves with poison until they turn half-Gem. Along the way, they meet new friends, lose new friends, and have a tone of character development. The surviving Gems all leave Earth, and Ken and Rosanna use the light pad once more to go to the most isolated, the smallest, the most remote planet in all the galaxy: the Garden. 

They form a network of wires around the planet to deliver a paralyzing electric shock to anyone should they dare to step on the light pad, trapping themselves in the planet for the rest of their lives out of fear the cycle will start all over again if they do. Using a juice extracted from the dead forget-me-nots that turns out to be where the poison originated the whole time, they take out the Gem parts from them and create two Gem creatures that resemble them both in appearance and action. Ken and Rosanna discover how to use the poison to bring back the plants, surprisingly, and grow their own food, living the rest of their days there and dismantling the electric wires when they reach old age. 

Meanwhile, all the Steven Universe characters are making a life away from Earth on a nearby planet, without any humans, and build a Homeworld-like planet. Steven and Connie settle down and have children there, and the rest of the Gems live happily and peacefully.

and all of this because a newspaper carrier was late.

Also: the Diamonds built the injector, it being a machine recycled from the first war. They were also the ones who discovered the poison’s use and sent Spinel to Earth as an attempt for them to build a Gem army there, offering Spinel “the perfect revenge.” Ah, well.

here’s what george looks like:

we know he’s a white suburban guy.

but is he your dad?

is he a licensed alien shooter?

the world may never know

#steven universe movie #steven universe #why did i make this

[frenchibi]

I was tagged by @artsytigersol12 - thank you?? come talk to me

Answers under the cut!

3 things your followers don’t know about you [1] I’m a freelance translator, mostly legal stuff ^^ [2] I’m pan [3] My parents are divorced

Answer 10 questions and tag 10 amazing people!

[1] What’s the last movie you watched?

Rewatched Kotonoha No Niwa (Garden of Words) – the animation is breathtaking??

[2] What was the last song you listened to?

Talk too much by COIN

[3] What was the last show you watched?

Uhhhhh it’s been a while, but I think Brooklyn Nine-Nine? Haven’t had the patience for shows lately ^^

[4] What was the last book you read?

Reread Howl’s Moving Castle :D It’s been a while since I’ve finished reading a new book, even though I have at least 40 here that I haven’t read yet :’) 

[5] What was the last thing you ate?

Grapes

[6] If you could be anywhere else, where would you be?

At the top of a mountain :D

[7] If you could pick a decade to travel back to, what would it be?

Meh. Take me to the future instead.

[8] If you win the lotto and millions of cash, what would be the first thing you’d do?

Probably buy a house for myself & my friends – and donate the rest? Go see my friends around the world? Idk, that’s extremely unlikely anyway lmao

[9] Which fictional character would you like to hang out with for the day?

Winry Rockbell from FMA. I’d love to talk to her and watch her work :0

[10] What was the last fandom you joined?

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, I guess? xD Moana? Hamilton and Haikyuu, but those were like almost two years ago lmao

Favourites Tag:

[Place] Wherever my favorite people are [Person] My mom probably [Colour] phthalo blue, magenta [Food] lasagna [Smell] trees after rain, coffee (too bad I’m allergic) [Book] Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, if I have to pick just one. Or The Hours by Michael Cunningham [Movie] Moana, Howl’s Moving Castle, Fantastic Beasts, don’t make me pick one [Music artist] Hm, yeah, currently probably Lin-Manuel Miranda xD But honestly I like so many different songs and genres it’s hard to pick one. [Genre of Music] probably indie-pop, instrumentals, or musicals/opera [Genre of literature] I really enjoy classics? Also slice of life, drama, but also the occasional YA literature or sci-fi stuff. Used to read a lot of fantasy; not so much now [Day of the week] Wednesday! (There’s choir on that day ahhh) [Social Media] (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ every platform annoys me in its own way ngl [Thing to do when bored] Sing [Celebrity] ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Emma Watson? [Website other than Tumblr] youtube (get tumblr out of my face honestly, it annoys me but I cannot leave) [Drink] Water, Whiskey (I’m evidently bad at this whole “pick one” concept) [Animals] Dolphins! Turtles! Owls! [Flower] Passion flowers, lilies, forget-me-nots (though don’t let me near flowers, I’ll suffocate) [TV show] Currently Brooklyn Nine-Nine [Fruit] strawberries, grapes, cherries (aka the ones I’m not allergic to) [Vegetable] leek, potatoes (...aka the ones I’m not allergic to. Are you noticing a pattern) [Store] Paperchase (thank you @notinvidia) [Quote] idk, man. “If the earth didn’t suck, we’d all fall off.” (Ha, ha) [Boy’s name] ugh, idk? Jack? I like my brothers’ names, Maximilian and Alexander [Girl’s name] why is this so difficult? Lily, maybe? Also like Victoria, which is my sister’s name... IDK [Ice cream flavour] coffee, vanilla, mint chocolate chip, coconut [Popcorn flavour] I am in a constant dilemma of salty vs sweet – but I guess I prefer salty, when it comes down to it. [Season] autumn [Month of the year] September or May, not too hot and not too cold xD Also like January though, for skiing!! [Disney Princess] Ariel, Jasmine, MOANA [Insult] …is German and would make no sense to put here lmao [YouTube channel] ugh, idk. I enjoy many different ones?? [Eye colour] green [Language] English by a mile, probably [Thing about yourself] I’m hopeful.

I tag @josai, @chxngsey, @snowflakers, @paintbrushyy, @superiortechnology, @greenstickynotes, @thehibiscusthief, @amalasdraws, @echtspitze, @lalikaa, @notinvidia

#French speaks #tagged #thank you for this ahhh #I always enjoy these way too much xD #...für diejenigen die diesen 'vulgären Ausdruck' jetzt wissen wollen und/oder damit was anfangen können: #vor zwei Tagen nannte mein einer Bruder den anderen 'Lachsnacken' #ich wusste nicht mal dass das ein Wort ist #aber hey #wieder was gelernt über die Jugend Von Heute™

[birdlord]

What I Watched in 2016

Here are the movies and TV series I watched in 2016, some with commentary and some without. The number after the movies is the date of release, my faves are bolded, and rewatches are marked with as asterisk. Last year’s list!

01 Do I Sound Gay (14)

02 We are The Best! (13)

03 Hateful Eight (15)

04 Welcome to Me (14)

05 For Your Eyes Only (81) - I listened to a lot of back episodes of the James Bonding podcast early this year, which of course led to watching a bunch of Bond movies. Not all, and not in order, certainly.

06 She’s the One (96)

07 * Diamonds are Forever (71)

08 It’s Complicated (09) - I think it was an article about the kitchen design in this movie that led me to watch it?

09 The Natural (84)

10 * Anna Karenina (12) - Never having read the book I can’t REALLY speak to this movie but haha I kinda love its commitment to artifice. 

11 About Time (13)

12 What We Do in the Shadows (14) - I did enjoy this, but wasn’t as taken by it as I thought I might be. Found the werewolves the funniest by far, so I wish they’d turned up more often. 

13 The Abominable Bride (15) - counting this as a movie, it was the Sherlock xmas special and I recall exactly zero about it, so…..must have been amazing, right?

14 Wake in Fright (71) - Never Go To Australia 

15 Hail Caesar (16) - I think I’d have to see it again to determine if the whole thing actually holds together, but at the time, it felt of a piece with the Coen’s cheerier output. 

16 In the Heart of the Sea (15)

17 The Night of the Comet (84)

18 Laggies (14)

19 * Bowling for Columbine (02)

20 A Gentleman’s Agreement (47) - confessional, experiential journalism, but done by Cary Grant in the 40s. Ahead of his time/gender?

21 Barefoot in the Park (67)

22 Suddenly Last Summer (59)

23 Tangerine (15)

24 * His Girl Friday (40)

25 That Touch of Mink (62)

26 * Charlie’s Angels (00)

27 9-5 (80) - Holy shit, somehow I thought this movie was just a rah-rah, girl power story about a bunch of secretaries getting together and overthrowing their boss and yeah, that’s SORT OF it but it gets way way weirder in the final third.

28 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit (88)

29 * The Addams Family (91)

30 * Addams Family Values (93)

31 Frida (02)

32 Bridge of Spies (15) - A E I O U and sometimes SPIES :O

33 Swimming With Sharks (94)

34 Sleeping With the Enemy (91)

35 Fatal Attraction (87) - Watched this movie and the previous one as part of an 80s/90s thriller weekend. These two are an interesting contrast to one another, being as the first is about an abusive husband and the second focuses on the most notable example of the “crazy ex-girlfriend”.

36 1 Cloverfield Lane (16)

37 The Man Who Never Was (56)

38 * To Die For (95) - This was a super fave of Teen Emily, who definitely identified with the Lydia character. Watching this time was a huge reminder than Illeana Douglas is a goddamn national treasure.

39 Trouble In Paradise (32)

40 Eraser (96)

41 * Flashdance (83)

42 * Notting Hill (99)

43 Gone to Earth (50) - Not the best Powell and Pressburger out there, but one takes what one can get, right?

44 Holiday Camp (47)

45 Never Sleep Again (10) - This is a four-hour doc about the entire Nightmare on Elm St series, and is the reason I watched Freddy’s Revenge a couple of movies down the list. It’s not a series that I have a particular attachment to, so I learned a ton.

46 Clouds of Sils Maria (15)

47 Mommie Dearest (81) - I’m not sure that I have enough appreciation for high camp to really get into this. There were some moments, but overall it’s a fine example of the kind of thing that is Not For Me.

48 Nightmare on Elm St: Freddy’s Revenge (85)

49 Inside Man (06)

50 Trainwreck (15)

51 White God (14)

52 * Sleepwalk With Me (12)

53 Amy (15)

54 * Meatballs (79)

55 Everybody Wants Some!! (16) - I found this a huge disappointment, and I’ve been a bit mystified by its positive reviews and inclusion on critics’ end of year lists. While D&C definitely has a “main character”, and we do follow him and his friends, other people and subsets of the high school are given serious time and consideration. Ultimately, I don’t think following this one dude tripping through a bunch of different college subsets was as illuminating. Plus, weak jokes.

56 * Dazed & Confused (93) - had to cleanse the mind-palate by watching the original!

57 Summertime (55)

58 The Money Pit (86)

59 Zombeavers (14)

60 Mistress America (15) - I am finding Greta Gerwig more and more charming, the more I see of her. Greta, let’s be friends!

61 While We’re Young (14)

62 The Invitation (16) - quite effective, very upper-middle-class bohemian LA horror film. I’ve heard some complaints about the final scene, but I thought it was an effective & clever way to show an expanding scope without an extra expense or sets.

63 End of Days (99)

64 Escape From New York (81)

65 Escape from L.A. (96) - Watched these two together, on the same night. They definitely should NOT be watched that way, given how identical the plots are. Unbelievably terrible ’96-era CGI in the second one, hard to believe that Jurassic Park was three years previous?? Gotta get that Spielberg money, am I right?

66 High Rise (16) - my only real disappointment in this movie was not being around to see the decline of the civilization - we jump straight from things being fine (if weird) and everything gone to heck. My favourite part is the decline, give me decline!

67 The Great Outdoors (88)

68 * Catch Me If You Can (02)

69 Little Darlings (80) - just your classic losing-virginity-at-camp story, but…wait for it….with GIRLS.

70 * Good Will Hunting (97)

71 Popstar (16) - diminishing returns, but some funny bits (mostly in the songs, not surprisingly). 

72 Tarzan (16) - watched this with friends and relatives, at a drive-in theatre a couple of days after my wedding! It’s NOT a good movie, but it was a fun time.

73 Love & Friendship (16) - got completely obsessed with Tom Bennett based on his 100% rate of scene-stealing in this film. Sevigny feels utterly out of place - am I capable of seeing her in a period piece set before, say, 1975 without feeling weird about it?

74 The Night Before (15)

75 Ghostbusters (16) - So I know I was supposed to be charmed by Kate McKinnon, but her schtick just doesn’t work on me, for whatever reason. I was also really frustrated by the final fight scene of this movie - it had obviously been hacked up in editing, and wtf is up with punching ghosts instead of containing them? I’m glad this movie happened, and certainly a great deal of the criticism it came in for was deeply unfair, but it was distinctly disappointing to find that this movie just wasn’t that great.

76 Brooklyn (15)

77 Poltergeist (82)

78 * Before Sunrise (95)

79 Love & Basketball (00) - Effusive praise for this movie somehow came to my attention from all over the place this year, so I finally had to watch it.

80 The Man Who Knew Too Much (56)

81 * Road House (89)

82 Carol (15) - watching this FINALLY allowed me to fully participate in Today’s Meme Culture

83 * Out of Sight (98)

84 Happy Texas (99)

85 Red Rock West (93)

86 Weiner Dog (15)

87 The Trouble With Harry (55)

88 * When Harry Met Sally (89)

89 Jungle Fever (91)

90 Ocean’s 11 (01)

91 Star Trek Beyond (16)

92 Two For the Road (67)

93 * Seven Year Itch (55)

94 Maggie’s Plan (15) - like I said earlier about Greta Gerwig? I liked this one even more than Mistress.

95 The Dish (00)

96 Splash (84)

97 Desk Set (57) - watching this and the next were inspired by stumbling across a blog about depictions of librarians on film. I particularly hit on this one because I’ve always wanted to see a Hepburne/Tracy film, and never had (to my memory, anyhow).

98 Party Girl (95) - one of those movies I’d always noticed on the shelves at the video store, and never actually watched it.

99 * Young Frankenstein (74) - saw this in the theatre, Gene Wilder notwithstanding I…..don’t think it’s good. It’s only extremely intermittently funny, you guys! Plus, the Putting’ on the Ritz bit makes me uncomfortable (especially in audio-only form, which I heard TOO many times after Wilder died).

100 The House of the Devil (09)

101* The Witches of Eastwick (87)

102 The Borning (81)

103 * Shaun of the Dead (04)

104 Dolores Claiborne (95)

105 The Conjuring 2 (13)

106 In a Valley of Violence (16) - definitely watched this because I happened across an article about the movie’s dog star. 

107 The Witch (16) - very effective in getting across the supernatural, natural, and social dangers of early puritan America, and Black Philip has entered my idiolect for any creepy animal/person/twitter feed. 

108 * Wayne’s World (92)

109 What if (13) - riffs on When Harry Met Sally’s fundamental question of women and men being friends, and basically comes to the same conclusion. yawn.

110 The Martian (15) - I read the book as part of a book club last year, and finally got around to watching the film. Since I found the worst of the writing in the book to be those passages dealing with description, the movie was a lot less annoying to experience.

111 Sleepless in Seattle (93)

112 * Thelma & Louise (91)

113 Casino (95)

114 Other People (16) - wept several times. GOSH I love Jesse Plemons, he’s so hugely sympathetic. Would watch in virtually anything.

115 The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (43)

116 Primary Colors (98)

117 Edge of Seventeen (16)

118 *Die Hard (88) - loaded up the laptop with this and the next four xmas-set movies, for watching on planes and in airports, while we were on the road at christmastime.

119 *Batman Returns (92)

120 *Scrooged (88)

121 * The Apartment (60)

Theatre - 5

Drive-in - 1

All the rest at home or at friends’ homes!

TV SERIES

*The Office US S2-3

War & Peace (2016) - you bet your BOOTS I started the book after watching this. Did I finish it? Not even close.

Love (2016)

Better Call Saul S2 - this is a show I enjoy while I’m watching it, but I don’t particularly find it memorable. Why? Who knows. It’s still something I look forward to, but not a show that sticks with me.

Great British Bake off *S1, *S2, S7 + Xmas Specials - a eulogy for Bake-Off as it was. Pour one (pint of double cream, that is) out for what once was.

Broad City S5

Travel Man S1, S2 - I find Richard Ayoade so desperately charming, but ever time I’ve watched one of the movies he’s directed, I’ve ended up disappointed. This show is a bit hit or miss, depending on the guests he brings along, and the episodes definitely have a sameness to them, but if you find this guy even a sliver as entertaining as I do, it’ll pull you along anyhow.

The Night Manager - so looking forward to Hugh Laurie’s upcoming career phase as Bond Villain.

Cooked

Newsradio S1-S3 - I’d seen an episode or two of this over the years but never sat down to fully appreciate it. It’s making me miss Phil Hartman all over again, a fresh devastation, plus haha did u know Tone Loc plays a security guard on this show? It’s all true.

Lady Dynamite

OJ Made In America - I’ll count this as a series, since I didn’t watch it in the theatre. Still haven’t seen the other big OJ series of 2016, but I loved loved LOVED this. What impressed me the most is that, in spite of its 7 hour+ running time there were still aspects of this story that could have been expanded upon.

Silicon Valley S3

* Veep S1, S2

Catastrophe S2

Pulling - went back in time to get more Sharon Horgan in my life, since Catastrophe seasons are terribly short and far-between. I’d been aware of this show for a long time, and somehow wasn’t expecting it to be as near-devastating as it ended up being. What, did I forget what a British show was like?

Another Period S2

Difficult People S1, S2 - Another late discovery, but a great one. A fine example of just giving some funny people a show, and letting them just do their thing on it every week.

Fleabag - yes, I’m in for this, obviously. And if I wasn’t, the show designed itself to put me off, from the first moments. A wise move!

One Mississippi

Very British Problems S1, S2

Atlanta - I’ve got a bad feeling that this show’s deserved success will lead to surreal elements being deployed, but much less deftly than they were here.

Please Like Me S1-S4 - Tore through this entire series greedily, am now suffering until they make another season. Balances some very harrowing elements with comedy and an ensemble cast of loveable/terrible humans.

Divorce - Sharon Horgan’s writing minus her acting is a hollow empty shell, but hey, I’ll take what I can get, when I can get it.

The Fall S3 - I’d decided last year after S2 that I was done with this show, and yet, here we are, I was drawn back in.

The Crown

Insecure

[jonestowers]

‘But Doctor...I AM Boy Genius!’

For a few years now I’ve been a keen follower of the Left And To The Back blog, where Dave Bryant plucks a forgotten record from the racks and writes about it. I’m always struck by the number of entries which end with some variation on ‘…no one knows who the line up were, or how this came to be made.’

Seeing these dead ends always makes me think of the band I was in, and the record we released.

Like a lot of the records highlighted by Left And To The Back, it sank without trace and, having come out in 2003 - just pre Web 2.0 -  there’s virtually nothing about it online. This being the case, I’m writing this post so that if anyone ever picks up a copy of that single and googles the band, or song title, something will come up. Also, it came out fifteen years ago this week…

The band was called Boy Genius and the lead track on our ep was ‘As Long As The Sun Shines’. I was the keyboard player in the band, having joined two years earlier. We were called Serotonin at the time and played as a three piece (guitar/vocals, bass and keyboards, backed by a drum machine). The other members were Mark Estall (guitar, vocals and songwriting) and Matthew Denley (bass).

Of the songs on the ep, the first two (As Long As The Sun Shines and A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away) were in our set in this first incarnation.

In the second half of 2001 we recorded a demo (‘Crutches For Cripples’) and, I think, sent it out to venues in order to get gigs. We also must have sent it to Radio One because Steve Lamacq played a song from it on the Evening Session some point late in 2001 (in fact, he played half of the song in question because the second half had the word ‘fucked’ in it).

At some point in 2002 we changed names and became Boy Genius, playing lots of gigs around Camden and New Cross. By now we had sequenced backing tracks for gigs, along with some electronica-y interludes.

It was at one of these gigs, playing Nemo’s ‘The System’ night at the Water Rats on Gray’s Inn Road, that we met producer Julian Standen. We were impressed that he had produced The Lemonheads’ cover of Mrs Robinson (as well, it turns out, as a lot of other impressive credits). He gave us his card and asked us to call him. We made the call a few days later and fixed up a date to visit him at his studio, The Library in Harringey.

At this meeting (and a few subsequent ones), Julian outlined a deal to us whereby he would record a high-quality demo with us, producing it and sourcing a good session drummer, in return for a cut of the publishing on the songs.

After a lot of discussion and reading up on such matters, we agreed and contracts were drawn up. These were looked over by the Musicians’ Union (the singer was a member), some small changes were suggested and then we all signed.

As a result of this I own some unlikely-sounding percentage (16.5% or 12.3% perhaps) of the publishing on the songs on the demo.

With the demo recorded, we had a couple of hundred copies made and sent them out to an industry mailing list provided by Julian. There must be quite a few of them still out there as they keep coming up on eBay. I think I prefer the version of As Long As The Sun Shines on this demo to the final version.

One of the people (or perhaps the only person) to respond to the demo was Justin de Takats from CEC Management. He came to see us play and we had some meetings and he asked us if we felt we needed a manager. He seemed nice, and had been involved with managing people like the Boo Radleys and Kenickie (here he is  in a really depressing documentary made during the latter’s final tour).

Also, Justin had a record label; Mother Tongue. In the past this had briefly been home to My Life Story among others. In addition to managing us, he wanted to put out an ep on this label. We were naturally very pleased about this.

We signed another publishing contract with Justin, splitting the publishing on the three supporting tracks with him (that’s why on the inner cover there are different publishing details for the first song to the other three).

For reasons I can’t remember, we opted not to go with Julian Standen for the ep, opting instead for Robert King. Robert was in a band called Alternative 3, who may have been another management interest of Justin. We set dates for recording.

By now we had a drummer, whose name was John. I can’t remember (or possibly never knew) his surname. He was very good and made a living playing in a Greek wedding band.

Recording of the ep took place at Robert’s studio which was beneath a pool hall in Gunnersbury. I remember it was the same week as Sugababes’ Freak Like Me came out (22nd April 2002) as I’d just bought it and listened to it on the way to and from the sessions.

We took a week to do the bulk of recording for the ep, along with lots of half days and evenings in subsequent weeks. The harp on the fourth song was played by Linnea Malmberg, who was a friend of a friend. She recorded a harp part which ran through the whole song but only the glissandi at the opening and close were used on the final version.

The high harmonies on As Long As The Sun Shines were provided by Justin Dempsey, the singer from Robert King’s band Alternative 3.

On the last day available for recording I stayed on at the studio while Robert finished the mixing. For reasons I can’t remember I had to take the tape reels away with me and keep hold of them so they came back in a cab with me to Highgate, where I lived at the time.

I have very little memory of what happened between completion of recording and the ep coming out.

Our manager recommended Simon ‘Spud’ Beggs (as he’s credited on the back sleeve) as a very good masterer so early one Saturday morning the singer and I took a train out to…Penge or somewhere to Simon’s flat where we sat a listened while he did computer things and mastered the four songs. We were there about half an hour.

We had more meetings with Justin to talk about artwork etc. The broad outline of what would be on the cover was decided and each of us did a version of it, with a view towards choosing the best one. As my day job at the time was in Kensington, I sat under a tree in Kensington Palace Gardens with paper and crayons to do my attempt. In the end we used the one the singer had done. He also drew the picture on the back (above). The pictures on the cd itself (below)  were by Justin’s children (they’re credited on the back of the packaging).

At some point in this period we made a video for the song. After work one day I went to CEC Management’s offices in Camden and picked up a video camera. That weekend we filmed the video in and around Greenwich (where the singer and bass player lived). The man with the bottle of wine at 1:44 is our one-time guitarist Matthew Babbs. The video was shot and produced by Alfredo Velardi, who was house-sharing with the singer at the time.

It must have been around this time that we got our website up and running – its non-more-noughties Flash-laden front page is viewable on the waybackmachine.

In planning for the release there was talk of sorting out proper distribution but as far as I know this didn’t happen and the ep ended up being stocked in a couple of shops around the country; the ones I’m aware of were Rough Trade (Ladbroke Grove and Covent Garden), Rhythm Records in Camden and Piccadilly Records in Manchester (who remarkably still have it in stock, along with the only write-up of the thing I’m aware of).

The release date was set for September 25th 2003. As far as I recall we didn’t do a launch gig or anything like that. The singer, bassist, a new guitarist and myself met up in a pub somewhere in Notting Hill late afternoon that day and trooped off to Rough Trade to buy a copy each. I subsequently bought one from Rhythm Records too.

As far as I remember 350 copies were produced and I think I was told subsequently that most of them had sold.

I’m not aware of any radio play for the song; a friend said he’d heard it once on XFM but we never had any confirmation of that.

In that pre-social media age the only way to track online reaction to the ep was by googling ‘Boy Genius’ + ‘The Far Away Sunshine Is The Guiding Light Of My New Religion’. Doing so brought up one page from Portugal and one from Thailand. Both showed the ep’s lead song in a chart of some kind, although due to the language barrier, what kind of chart it was remained unclear. It can’t have been a sales chart, due to the small number produced and lack of proper distribution. Perhaps it was a playlist chart. I’ve still got printouts of both these webpages somewhere. I’ll check them one day.

Whatever the outcome, the manager must have been pleased with how things had gone as before long we were back in the same studio recording another ep, followed by lengthy sessions on an album.

It was towards the end of the album sessions that the band’s singer informed us that he would be carrying on the band without us, so that was the end of Boy Genius. Songs from those sessions were re-worked and were later released under another band name, but that’s not a story I know much about.

The Boy Genius ep remains (and likely ever will remain) the only record I’ve appeared on that came out under the traditional music industry model.

I’d wanted from the age of about seven to be in a band and have a record in the shops and, if nothing else, this release fulfilled that wish.

________________________________________________________________

When I work out a way of putting the three other songs from the ep online I’ll do a write-up of the whole thing, explaining such exciting matters as what was left out of the ‘radio edit’ of the a-side, and what’s wrong with all the keyboard parts...

#Boy Genius #As Long As The Sun Shines #The Faraway Sunlight Is The Guiding Light Of My New Religion

[corneliussteinbeck]

GGS Spotlight: Jen De Mel

Name: Jen de Mel Age: 37 Location: London, UK

What does being a Girl Gone Strong mean to you? Being a Girl Gone Strong means feeling powerful instead of small. It means having confidence and being proud of what my body can do, and feeling good in my own skin.

When I think of GGS, I think about smart training and about having more meaningful training goals based on performance.

Being a GGS means influencing other women to accept and be proud of their bodies and not wanting to be a different body type that the one they have been blessed with.

How long have you been strength training, and how did you get started? I’ve been strength training since 2010, when I lost interest in doing things that made my body feel bad, such as partying too often and became more interested in doing things that made me feel good, such as training and being kind to myself.

What does your typical workout look like? Full-body workouts mainly strength with a cardio intervals finisher. For example…

Warm-up and mobility for the first 15 minutes:

Cat/Camel

Thoracic mobility, such as open book

Hip mobility, such as fire hydrants

Glute activation such as clamshells, hip bridge, x-band walks

Core activation such as bird dog, moving planks, dead bugs

Training session, 30 to 45 minutes. I prefer supersets because they feel more metabolic:

A1. Chin-Up 3xAMRAP A2. BB Split Squat 3×10

B1. Push-Up 3×10 B2. Romanian Deadlift 3×10

Finisher :30/:30 work/rest ratio

C1. Moving Plank C2. Kettlebell Swing C3. Ski Erg

By the way, the above is not an example of a typical pregnancy workout! Those are my typical go-to exercises if I’m not following a specific program. Pregnancy workouts have been shorter.

Warm-Up/Mobility:

A hip opener such as 90/90 split squat, pigeon stretch, and fire hydrant

Glute and core activation

Training session, 3-4 sets of 10 reps each:

A1. Seated Row A2. Goblet Squat or Romanian Deadlift A3. Alternating Leg Lowering or Band-Resisted Bird Dog A4. Hip Bridge variations

Finish with Intervals, 8-10 sets of :20/:40 work/rest ratio (usually ski erg and kettlebell swings), or with 30 minutes of steady-state cardio depending on time available.

Favorite Lift: Romanian Deadlift. What’s not to love? It’s a full-body, compound movement and teaches you a great movement pattern of the hip hinge while building great strength in the hamstrings, glutes, core, and lats.

Most memorable PR: In the gym: six weighted chin-ups with 10 kilos. Outside of the gym (water skiing): 5.5 bouys at 34 miles per hour on the slalom course.

Top 5 songs on your training playlist:

Crave You – Flight Facilities

Sweet Disposition – Temper Trap

Livin’ on the Edge — Aerosmith

Perfect Form – Cyril Hahn

Up and Down – Kattison

Top 3 things you must have at the gym or in your gym bag:

Headphones, phone, and water.

Do you prefer to train alone or with others? Why? Both. I like training alone, but I get more motivated when I train with others. I enjoy mixing up my usual routine.

Most embarrassing gym moment: Almost falling off the treadmill because the endorphins and song I was listening to got me feeling so high that I closed my eyes momentarily and lost my balance.

Most memorable compliment you’ve received lately: Someone called me “superwoman” because I’m six months pregnant and still super active and hosting a large family gathering at the last minute while making it look easy (It wasn’t. My feet were throbbing and most of the dishes were overcooked!)

Most recent compliment you gave someone else: “You’re the best!” to my dog Tyson. That doesn’t count? OK, I told my sister that she is brilliant in times of crisis, and she has held our family together during a traumatic event.

Favorite meal: Fish (like seabass) and greens. Boring, I know, but I eat it every day and don’t get bored. I was gutted when I had such a strong aversion to it during my first trimester of pregnancy.

Favorite way to treat yourself: Pregnancy massages are my favorite way to relax these days.

Favorite quote: “Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence.” from Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

Favorite book: The Prophet by Khalil Gibran

What inspires and motivates you? People who are challenged physically and achieve more than most, such as Bethany Hamilton (a champion surfer who lost her arm to a shark and became a world champion surfer anyway). Overcoming that kind of adversity rather than letting fate deal you a cruel card is ridiculously inspiring and always makes get it together if I start to feel sorry for myself.

What do you do? I am a pre- and postnatal fitness coach, and a corporate ethics consultant. And

What else do you do? I am crazy about slalom water skiing. It’s the feeling of being on the water, the sunshine, spending the day hanging out at the lake with friends, the exhilaration, and adrenaline of the sport, competing against myself, trying to control the inner monkey who keeps trying to sabotage my best passes by telling me not to mess it up. Plus, I just think it’s the coolest sport in the world, and because it’s not that big or popular you can actually get quite close to the champions who inspire you!

Describe a typical day: I wake up at 6:30 and go to the gym. Then I take Tyson (our mini schnauzer) for a walk in the communal garden, where he plays with all the other dogs. Just watching him being so playful makes me feel happy, so it’s such a great way to start the day.

I pick up some coffee for Priyan (my husband) and me from Coffee Plant (best coffee on the famous Portobello Road in Notting Hill!) and go home to make us breakfast at around 9 a.m., before I wash and settle down for work and household chores, etc.

The rest of the day seems to slip by until it’s time for dinner at around 7 p.m. after Priyan has taken Tyson out for his second walk. Then we relax and watch some TV. Usually, Priyan is watching football, and I’ll be looking at social media our reading unless there’s a new season of House of Cards or Game of Thrones to watch!

Your next training goal: Being six months pregnant, my current training goal is learning and practicing body positivity — regardless of how many kilos I am gaining — and training for function rather than performance. But I’m dying to get super fit again next year and prepare for “Women’s Week” in Orlando, in September 2018 with the female world champion water-skier, Whitney McClintock. I want to smash my personal best on the slalom course and start shortening rope lengths.

For what are you most grateful? Good health for me, family, and friends.

Of what life accomplishment do you feel most proud? There was a time in my life when I was down in the dumps after suddenly losing my dad to cancer, and I was low on self-esteem, drinking too much, and not being good to myself. I decided I needed to get out of the rut and in the space of a few months turned my whole outlook on life around through exercise, holistic therapies, and nutrition. It helped me become happy, confident, and relaxed.

Which three words best describe you? My best friend and husband are hanging out next to me while I’m answering this, so I asked them to answer for me. They said “fun, loyal, and adventurous.”

What’s a risk you’ve taken recently, and how did it turn out? Having the courage to walk away from a well-compensated legal career at a company where I worked for 10 years to pursue my dreams of being a strength and conditioning coach.

How has lifting weights changed your life? Lifting weights has helped me make the shift from training solely for aesthetics and burning calories to training for function and performance, which is a far more consistent, satisfying, and empowering goal for me.

What’s the coolest “side effect” you’ve experienced from strength training? Feeling fearless and bad-ass!

What do you want to say to other women who might be nervous or hesitant about strength training? There’s absolutely nothing to lose by asking one of the trainers in the gym to show you how to perform a lift with proper form. If they’re not busy training clients, they will gladly help you out, that’s our job! It could transform the way you train. If you’ve never tried it before, you’ll love how much you will improve and get stronger and see your body (and your mind) transform quite quickly! Proper form is key, and there are always ways to improve. It’s 100 percent worth asking a trainer or investing in a few training sessions to learn the ropes.

To learn more about Jen, check out her website and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram!

  The post GGS Spotlight: Jen De Mel appeared first on Girls Gone Strong.

from Blogger http://corneliussteinbeck.blogspot.com/2017/08/ggs-spotlight-jen-de-mel.html

[ourhealthyfoodblog-blog]

New Post has been published on Healthy Food and Remedies

New Post has been published on http://healthyfoodandremedies.com/2017/04/13/50-steps-become-healthier-today/

50 Steps to Become Healthier Today

I guess that all of us sometimes think that our lives and our health could need some improvement. But once you take a look around and read through different books on this topic, you’ll soon be overwhelmed by the amount of advice, programs, and theories out there.

​We don’t want you to fall into analysis paralysis or to feel like drowning in a sea of “shoulds” and “must nots”. Changing any kind of habit is work and depending on how long or often you’ve been doing these things, it can be harder or easier to implement new ways of living.

​For today, simply take one or two of our tips from the list below and commit yourself to do this every day or every second day – depending on how much energy and time you have. Simply be consistent, a little goes a long way. Once you stepped up your game by just one tiny habit, you’ll be rewarded with feeling better and therefore be even more open towards change! Now, let’s take a look at all these wonderful options to get motivated.

​

When it comes to eating right and exercising, there is no ‘I’ll start tomorrow.’ Tomorrow is disease.

V.L. Allinear

1

Make a smoothie out of random fruits you find in your kitchen – extra points if you throw in some green leafy vegetables as well. A good base is always bananas and frozen fruit can add a nice texture. Don’t get too crazy with the ingredients and if you’re new to this, stay on the sweeter side. Sit back and enjoy!

2

Pre-cook a whole bunch of rice (or any starch of your choice) and some veggies or beans for your next few evenings so you’ll have a satisfying and nutritious dinner in no time. The easiest way to do this is by using an Instant Pot of course! When you’re done, just put all of the food in separate containers into your fridge.

3

Read a few pages in any of your favorite self-improvement books. If you don’t currently have one, we recommend “Peace is in every step” by Thich Nhat Hanh, “The Desire Map” by Danielle Laporte and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change” by Stephen R. Covey.

4

Write down a list of things you like about yourself and put it somewhere you’ll see it every day. Repeat these things to yourself whenever you see them until you feel invincible! Even better when you add things about your soul, your person, something that won’t change over time or could be taken away.

5

Swap your morning coffee for some jumping jacks followed by a nice tea or fresh juice/smoothie. Your adrenals will be eternally grateful and you don’t need that kind of bitterness in your life. Take this chance to nourish and soothe your body and soul!

6

Eat more starches like potatoes, rice, beans, or even a piece of plain bread to give you sustainable energy while at the same time keeping you from loading up on dessert or craving animal-based food. In the end, these carbs are what our cells thrive on!

7

Yes, this is a classic but effective one: Have some fruit as a snack instead of a chocolate bar. Nature’s candy will give you a nice amount of essential nutrients and hydrate your cells at the same time. The fructose is also able to deal your with sugar cravings!

8

Take a 30 minute walk, either listening to nature’s sounds, a guided meditation or to an inspiring podcast like Food For Thought, Rich Roll or The Mindset Zone. This down-time can give you some much needed relaxation and inspiration to go on with the rest of your day.

9

Interact with people around you. Smile at strangers, make your colleagues laugh, help someone out. Surrounding yourself with positive energy will prevent you from being stressed and helps you make better decisions for yourself.

10

Swap your dairy products for dairy-free versions if you haven’t already done this. Since we were not made to consume the secretions of another species, it won’t do your body any good – and you’re even likely to have a slight intolerance anyway. Next time you’re at the grocery store, get some different types of plant-based milk and find the one you like the most!

Double Your Nutrient Intake Today!

Make healthy food taste like dessert & load up on nutrients easily with our 100% FREE Smoothie E-Book.

11

Put on your favorite music and dance around, even jump if you can. Remember the time you were going crazy on a rebounder as a child? That’s not just great for your mood but also for your arteries, lymphatic system, and waistline! Feel free to join in and sing if you feel that calling.

12

Set an alarm in the evening and unplug all your devices at a certain time. This will allow you to unwind before going to bed at a decent time and get some beauty sleep in. I know it’s tough but try to be pretty strict about it and view it as quality time!

13

Don’t sit down for more than 1 hour at a time if you can because this can significantly lower your life expectancy. Get up regularly, release any build-up tension, stretch, grab some water or take some deep breaths by the window – no matter if it’s at work or while watching Netflix.

14

While we’re at it: get away from your screens from time to time, don’t go on a 7-8 hours marathon of working, watching videos, writing emails, and scrolling through social media. Unplug yourself from the virtual world for a little and slow down. If you have 30 minutes to linger on Facebook, you have 10 minutes (or more) for some meditation, yoga or even a short workout.

15

Add some greens to your lunch or dinner for some nutritional boosting and crunchiness. Get creative, make wraps, put it into sauces or casseroles, steam them or prepare a quick green smoothie. You could also make some kale chips for the next movie night if that sounds like you!

16

Don’t grab your lunch at some nearby store, make an effort to prepare it yourself at home. It can even be left-overs from last night or a whole grain sandwich with some nuts and grapes. The bulk-preparing comes in handy here as well.

17

Set your alarm 10 minutes earlier and practice some yoga in bed, maybe listen to soothing music while doing this. It doesn’t have to be exhausting or perfect, it’s rather a matter of waking up gradually and connecting with your body.

18

Drink a big glass of warm (or cold, however you like it) water with freshly squeezed lemon juice in the morning. After hours of dehydration, your body will be more than pleased – plus the lemon juice has an alkaline effect on your body, gently waking up your cells and digestion.

19

Listen to some affirmations while you’re doing your chores, drive in your car, or even while napping. The powerful, uplifting phrases can shift your mindset towards being more positive, gentle, productive, and clear. Try to get used to a more positive voice!

20

Use your lunch break to go outside and step away from what you’re doing for 8 hours a day. A change of scenery can help you to return with more energy and motivation. Extra points for eating your self-made lunch in the sun.

21

Make a green vegetable juice (either fresh or with some wheatgrass powder) when you feel sluggish in the afternoon or evening to refresh your cells. If that’s not your thing, you can also opt for some freshly squeezed oranges – skip the coffee or wine.

22

Whenever you feel stuck and unhappy, think of at least 5 things you are grateful for right now. This makes you realize that you would be perfectly okay if nothing changed in your life and takes the pressure off to help you think straight. This can be turned in a daily ritual or gratitude journaling which is like a prevention for an overall bad mood.

23

Try to cook your meals without oil, get some non-stick cookware and steam your veggies in water instead of frying them. There’s even a way to prepare oil-free hash browns! This will keep your arteries healthier and waistline slimmer.

24

Stick to the whole-food version of everything you eat. Have rye bread instead of white, get whole wheat pasta, brown rice, whole grain crackers etc. It will give you more nutrients and the fiber keeps you full for a longer amount of time.

25

Call a loved one, meet them somewhere and have a relaxing, inspiring conversation. Plus points for hugging it out, since this is extra good for your hormones (that goes for cuddling animals as well). We all need loving connections.

26

Get a medium to large water bottle (preferably glass or at least BPA-free plastic) and mark it with time-oriented goals. Get a label marker and start drawing lines to outline the amount of water you’d like to drink by a certain time every day. This makes your goals visual and you’ll make sure to be hydrated throughout the whole day. Refill once or twice if you want to.

27

Take a hot bath and put some Epsom salt in your water! It prevents blood clots, relieves pain, treats congestion, and helps muscles function. Plus, it can do amazing things for your skin! This bitter, salt-like substance is also a nice detoxifier and alkalizer.

28

Try to eat your dinner early enough so you’re basically fasting for 14 hours. For example if you eat breakfast around 7 am, have your last meal at 5 pm. This doesn’t mean restricting your calories, but rather redistributing.

29

Come up with a list of what it is you truly want and visualize your goals and successes every day. It will both make you happy and want to work for it harder, meaning it’s a lot more likely to become reality. You can even create a vision board with pictures of what you’d like to achieve and hang it on the wall for some visual motivation.

30

Sleep for at least 8 hours a night and try to be in bed before midnight to regulate your hormones. If you’re still tired in the morning, go to bed half an hour earlier until you found the right amount of sleep you need in order to feel restored and energized.

31

Cut back on salt and sugar since they overstimulate your taste buds and make you eat more than your body needs – plus they will make an apple or carrot seem very blunt and boring. Stick to unflavored, natural food more often.

32

Look into some methods of physical relaxation. You can either get a professional massage, ask your partner to give you one or even do it yourself! Reflexology is a method of applying pressure to your feet and hands using a specific technique in order to support physical functions or changes in the body.

33

Go outside and get some sunshine for 10-20 minutes, depending on the season. This can calm you down, increase happiness and gets you a nice dose of vitamin D. Whether you like to walk, run, play, or just lay down – nothing better than taking a sweet break on a stressful day!

34

Eat mindfully and slowly, chew your food 20 times and really pay attention to the texture, smell and flavor of your food. Make an effort to be undistracted, don’t watch any videos or discuss hot topics while eating.

35

Ride your bike to work if you can. You might also combine it with taking a train if it’s too far away. It won’t feel like working out but rather as a means to get around in an environmentally friendly, cheap and healthy way.

36

Go to local farmers markets, interact with people and buy fresh produce which wasn’t treated with any pesticides. This counts for taking a nice walk outside, smiling at strangers, supporting small businesses, and making healthier food choices!

37

Make an effort to take a look at what’s really in your food that you’re about to buy at the grocery store. Read the labels and aim for short ingredient lists on which you recognize every single word. Try to look for chemicals instead of calories.

38

Give your scale away. This little guy can screw with you on a daily basis, making your worth depend on a number, which can affect your mood and your actions throughout the day. Ever gotten into some chips or chocolates because your weight was higher or lower than expected? Free yourself from this unimportant measurement and strive to consistently make healthy choices.

39

Start stretching your whole body while watching your favorite TV series and discover how much more flexible and strong you become after a while. It’s good to unwind and keep yourself from bad posture too.

40

Stay connected with yourself. You have your unique set of talents and needs, following these will make your life much easier and better. Listen to your inner voice and truth, don’t push yourself too hard and go at your own pace – no matter what you think is expected.

41

Be aware of your hunger cues. Are you really in physical need of some food or just thirsty, tired, bored? Make sure to take a nap and drink some water or tea in order to treat your body well, and get a hobby that’s in alignment with your passion or talent to get your mind off of snacking.

42

Get a body brush and use it every morning to activate your lymphatic system. It’s a wonderful act of self-care and makes your skin incredibly soft while gently supporting your body’s detoxification. A great combination is coconut oil, which you can apply afterwards.

43

Buy almost exclusively foods that are healthy and which you feel good about eating. When the moment comes that you’re at home and really hungry, you will make a good food choice – because you cannot eat what you don’t have at home.

44

For a great quick method to reduce stress, try grounding or earthing. We are surrounded by electronics and radiation all day, both of which can have questionable health risks. By walking on the earth barefoot, you can balance some of the free radicals out, meaning you “de-charge” yourself.

45

Stay away from soda and diet coke. This is nothing new, but if these beverages still find their way into your belly, it’s time to make it a habit of cutting them out. And it doesn’t even matter if it’s regular or diet soda – they are a serious threat to your health and waistline! Try some fruit/herb infused water, tea or juice instead if regular plain water is too boring for you.

46

Bake or prepare some healthy sweet or savory snacks so you don’t feel like missing out if you don’t buy unhealthy crackers or muffins at the store. You can prepare mostly anything using just a few clean whole food ingredients. Also, watch your hunger signals and avoid getting too hungry so you’re able to make conscious food choices.

47

Try a new healthy food every time you go grocery shopping. It can be an exotic fruit, a scary looking vegetable or an interesting mix of spices. Also, don’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry – make a list and stick to it.

48

In order to honor your true self, start being very honest with people and say no when you feel like it. Get to know your boundaries and let others know about them, too! This will soon show you who really cares about you and your wellbeing – a perfect chance to get rid of toxic relationships.

49

Make juice or soups out of leftover fruits and veggies before they turn bad. You can freeze them if you’re not in the mood for consuming anything right now and have some quick, healthy food options. Plus, you will save money and require less resources.

50

Make your meals with love and make them look appetizing. This means cooking at home and adding more colors to your meals like steaming up some veggies, putting on fresh herbs, and getting a nice variety of nutrients – all without artificial colors or flavors of course.

Now, get started!

After you have chosen the habits you want to bring into your daily life, make sure to keep track. Connect them with something that you already do and maybe even make a checklist to see if you follow through most of the time. Many of these little changes have important health benefits and it’s great to look back one day and see how you took one step at a time towards a better life.

#Healthier